The history of Malayalam cinema is replete with names of people who have contributed to its evolution. In this list the name of P. Subramaniam would certainly be one etched in bold. He and his Merryland Studio have made a significant impact on Indian cinema itself.
Ironically, Subramaniam got into the business of cinema by chance. He and his family was close to the Travancore royal family, especially with the then Regent Sethulakshmi Bai, mother of last king of Travancore Chithira Thirunal and Diwan Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer. They motivated and encouraged him to make films even helping him financially.
Born Subramaniam Pillai in 1910 at Nagercoil, he reached Trivandrum to join college. One year into his Intermediate course, he joined Trivandrum Water Works as a clerk. This put an end to his studies. The first order for water supply came from Kowadiar Palace. The responsibility of installing the pipeline and supplying water to the palace was vested with Venkitachalam Iyer, the chief engineer. He took Subramaniam as his assistant for this work. Subramaniam’s honesty and hard work impressed the Regent. This was the beginning of his relationship with the royal family.
A year later, he then joined as a clerk in the Stationery Department. He found that Sir CP had a passion for fountain pens and used only peacock blue ink produced by Waterman. This ink was distributed to the Diwan’s office from Spencer’s and Subramaniam saw to it that there was no disruption in supply of ink. This won him great appreciation from the Diwan.
Subramaniam quit this job and started a bus service in Thiruvananthapuram city. The Diwan helped him buy an eight-seater vehicle. This He soon bought two more buses thereby making his mark as a successful businessman.
When Diwan decided to modify the Thampanoor railway station and its premises, he decided to start a cinema theatre. He handed over a plot of marshy land close to the railway station to Subramaniam on lease asking him to construct and operate a theatre here. Even before this, Subramaniam had ventured into the field of films. He produced Prahlada . In fact, the actual producer was the Regent, with Sir CP providing all assistance. It is said that the film was made to promote Guru Gopinath’s daughter whose dance performance was highly appreciated by the Regent and the Diwan.
To construct the theatre Subramaniam brought lorry loads of white sand from Chakka, filled the marshy plot of land and by the end of 1930s the theatre was ready. It was named New Theatre. Later, he started a second one, Sree Padmanabha at East Fort, a third one Sreekumar in 1947 at Thampanoor and Karthikeya in 1971 at Pettah.
After Prahlada , Subramaniam had decided not to make another film. That was when he found that there were very few Malayalam films being produced, not enough supply to meet the demands of his own theatres. In 1951, the Lourdes Mission Service (LMS) bought two acres of land in Nemom and built a building to start a school, but the project was halted. LMS sold the land and building to Subramaniam. who decided to start a production house there. He named it Merryland Studio.
Atmasakhi was the first film that rolled out of his studio. From then on Subramaniam and Merryland churned out some landmark movies. They were also responsible in launching the careers of some of the greatest names in Malayalam cinema. Avakashikal was the first blockbuster from Merryland. Mantravadi saw Subramaniam make his debut as director. He went on to direct 59 films out of the 69 that were produced by Merryland.
Subramaniam died in 1979.
